Treasury to investigate funding gap holding back female entrepreneurs

The UK government has launched a review into the funding gap that holds women back from becoming business leaders.

Treasury minister Robert Jenrick said the review could reduce the hardships women go through in working life and increase their chances of accessing capital to launch their own business which would be a great opportunity to the UK.

“The greatest economic opportunity out there to day is harnessing the talents of women that are currently untapped,” he said.

“We propose today that later in the year, armed with the evidence from the British Business Bank, we will put as much of that as possible into the public domain and use that as a call to arms for female entrepreneurs, and for everyone else in the banking and venture capital sector to sit up, take notice and to act.

“This isn’t just a women’s problem, it’s a problem for everyone,” he said.

On 4 March, the government announced £1.5m fund to help tackle the gender pay gap. The funding will go to women that need support when returning to work after spending time out caring. The aid launched on 5 March 2018 and includes training and skills update

On International Women’s Day, March 8, the government’s Innovative UK announced a second programme of Women in Innovation awards which consists of a funding competition and support package to encourage more female-led innovation.